Shark Hat Nation Entertainment Age Rating System

History
In the 1960s, violence in Random King went to an extreme. Rebels attempted to overthrow the government in 1960, and then in 1964, a brutal school shooting and bombing left the whole Kindergarten wing into a shell. It went to the final straw in 1966, when the Random King government created the Random King Age Rating Association (RKARA). When it began that same year, it had four ratings, hoping to fix the intense violence that occurred since the war.

F: Family: ”all ages admitted”

PG: Parental guidance: “parental guidance suggested for young persons”

A1: Adult (Category 1): ”persons under 16 not admitted unless accompanied by an adult”

A2: Adult (Category 2): “persons under 16 not admitted”

The gap between the PG and A1 ratings was quite big. A nonprofit review newspaper, which has been going on since 1962, called the Media Rating Board, rated a movie with a “PG” rating for age 14 and up. With the age limit for the A1 and A2 ratings raised from 16 to 18 in 1973, a movie rated “A1” was reviewed to also be suitable for 14 and up. The “M” (Mature) rating was implemented in 1978, with 14 as the age limit. However, it was mostly for parents as it was merely advisory. Also, explicit sex works that were unsuitable for the “A2” rating would be given an “X” rating, starting in 1976.

M: Mature: “not recommended for persons under 14”

X: “persons under 18 not admitted”

The rating system worked, but not a lot. It still caused confusion as an amount of theaters did not know if “M” rated or “A1/A2” rated works were more intense content-wise. So they abandoned the old way of life in 1987, to the shock of most people, replacing the ”M”, rating with the “15” rating. Also, the “A1” and “A2” ratings were retired and replaced by the advisory “18” rating as an effort to “inform, not restrict”.

15: “not recommended for persons under 15”

18: “not recommended for persons under 18”

Intense community pressure from movies that have got “PG” and “15” ratings struck again, and a controversy struck because many movies got “unfair” ratings. Movies with a tween and early teen audience were given “unfair” ratings. The organization, now renamed the Shark Hat Nation Entertainment Age Rating System (SHNEARS) in 1995, due to the new faction, Shark Hat Nation. That same year, the PG rating was retired, and the 9 and 12 ratings were introduced. The 9 was meant to “replace“ the PG, while the 12 was more for preventing those “unfair” ratings. However, many PG works were re-rated either F or 9, and the works with “unfair” ratings very rarely got 9 and 15 ratings, but usually, they got the new 12.

9: “not recommended for persons under 9”

12: “not recommended for persons under 12”

More community pressure split the “18” rating into two: “PS17” (17 in TV and video games) and “A18”, resembling the R and NC-17 ratings by the MPAA in real life. The change happened in 2002 and here are the descriptions.

PS17: Parental Supervision 17: “persons under 17 not admitted unless accompanied by an adult”

17: “not recommended for persons under 17”

A18: Adult 18: “persons under 18 not admitted”

In December 2019, right before Christmas, it was renamed SME (SHNMHNEARS) Shark Hat Nation-Milky Hat Nation Entertainment Age Rating System. The SME rating system remained the same.

Ratings
F suitable for all (ages). Cartoon fantasy violence only allowed if rare. Potty humor can not be very frequent. Same thing with mild swear words, they have to be very rare. Sex references, sex jokes can only be used if extremely mild and have to be extremely rare. The maximum age bar for younger elementary school students with strict/overprotective parents.

9 suitable for tweens (age) 9+. Cartoon fantasy violence is allowed. Potty humor can be very frequent, and mild swear words do not have to be very rare. Sex references, sex jokes have to be very mild and rare. The maximum age bar for younger elementary school students with lenient parents, as well as older elementary school students with strict/overprotective parents.

12 suitable for teens (age) 12+. Teenage violence is allowed but not very frequent. Potty humor is unrestricted. Sex references, sex jokes do not have to be very mild, and they do not have to be very rare. Mid-level swear words are allowed. The maximum age bar for elementary school students with lenient parents, as well as middle school students with strict/overprotective parents.

15 suitable for older teens (age) 15+. Teenage violence can be very frequent, and adult violence is allowed if rare. Potty humor will not be referenced anymore as for all the remaining ratings, it is unrestricted. Strong sex references, sex jokes are allowed and do not have to be very rare. Simulated sex allowed if very, very rare. Mid-level swear words can be frequent. High swear words are allowed, but they can’t be extremely frequent. The maximum age bar for middle school students with lenient parents, as well as high school students with strict/overprotective parents.

PS17 unsuitable for minors under (age) 17. Adult violence is allowed. High swear words are allowed. Strong sex references, sex jokes are allowed too. Really rare use of the strongest of all these categories, also allowed. Simulated sex is allowed but can not be very frequent. The maximum age bar for high school students with lenient parents, as well as the legal maximum age bar for minors under (age) 18. For video games and TV, it is called 17 and is advisory.

A18 unsuitable for minors under (age) 18. Adult violence is unrestricted. Language is too. The possibilities are endless and unrestricted. Simulated sex is allowed and can be very frequent. However, real/unsimulated sex is not allowed.

X unsuitable for minors under (age) 18. Adult films that have real/unsimulated sex, especially that is explicit, exceeds the A18 rating and gets an X. There have been many petitions to remove the X rating and put explicit sex in A18.

Television/TV
The same rating system is used for TV ratings. However, there are two new ratings. YC and C that aren’t content ratings, but are for stuff that are aimed for children, unlike the F rating, for stuff that are appropriate for children but that might not interest kids, such as nature documentaries. For A18 and X rated content, it is locked behind a personal password.

12 rated programs can only air between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.

15 rated programs can only air between 7:00 p.m. and 6:45 a.m.

17 rated programs can only air between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

A18 rated programs can only air between 10:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.

X rated programs can only air on specially licensed channels

Also, there is a single letter code. If a program says 12-FVL, that means it is a 12 rated program with fantasy violence and language, with the most frequent first. If a program says X-ES that means that specific program‘s rating is X for explicit sex. And if there is a C-FV program that means a C rated program with fantasy violence. A program rated 17-V is rated 17 for violence. And a program rated YC or F must not have any of those content descriptors unless very mild and rare.

V - Violence. (12, 15, 17, A18)

FV - Fantasy Violence. (C, 9, 12)

L - Language. (9, 12, 15, 17, A18)

S - Sex. (12, 15, 17, A18)

ES - Explicit Sex. (X)

SV - Sexual Violence. (15, 17, A18)

D - Drugs. (12, 15, 17, A18)

A - Alcohol. (9, 12, 15, 17, A18)

H - Horror. (12, 15, 17, A18)

Controversies
*UNDER CONSTRUCTION*